David's Tangled Thoughts

I got a piece of mail from the National Marrow Donor Program today. I had almost forgotten that I had registered. It's one of the more worthwhile things that I did when I was in college. During my sophomore year, the greeks put up a huge drive at the International Center on campus. This was slightly different than the usual blood drives that happen all the time. As far as I can remember, it was the only time this drive occurred while I was in East Lansing. I am ineligible to donate blood*, but I am eligible to donate bone marrow. Donating blood is important, but the bone marrow registry needs all the help it can get. Finding blood for a patient is relatively easy even if inventories are low. Finding bone marrow is like trying to win the lottery in comparison. When a person needs a bone marrow transplant, their best hope of finding a donor is with a sibling. But the odds of a match are still low. Please consider putting yourself on the registry. You may be that one in a million cha

Before going to college, living in Michiana was great. It was great because you could take advantage of two systems. Consider this: Food: Go to Michigan. They have 0% sales tax. Clothing and services: Go to Indiana. They have 5% sales tax. Cigarettes: Go to Indiana. You'll save 10 bucks a carton. Gas: Again, Indiana. (Their governor might even rescind the gas tax if pushed) Land: Live in Michigan--lower taxes. Jobs: Work in Indiana--higher salaries. (Unless you are a teacher then you might get a little more in MI) From where I was sitting, life was great. That is until now. Indiana's sales tax is now 6%--same as Michigan's. Now I don't smoke so no savings there. Gas? It's about the same on both sides of the border and is high as hell. I don't own any land so that doesn't mean anything to me. I work in Indiana but I've just walked into income tax hell! What prompted this post? I got my paycheck a little while back and I was absolutely livid t

That robin who built a nest by the front door laid some eggs a few days ago. Poor things. With us coming and going, they are never going to get any peace. Stupid bird.

Article here . If that article is true, PM Blair is staying in office until 2009. I must say that I am surprised. When the last round of elections took place, I was under the impression that Blair was going to be out after a short while. President Bush has got two years left and it still is too long for some people here. I find that funny.

...which, in this case, means south South Bend. A few days ago, I was released from work a few hours early. The store was dead and our usual freight shipment had not been delivered. It was fine with me. Temps in the lower 70's, clear with a slight breeze. With a few hours to kill, I thought that I would head to the southern end of South Bend. Before Mishawaka was developed in the shopping mecca it is today, the area shopping complex was in south South Bend. It was anchored by Scottsdale Mall. Similarly to how Mishawaka is anchored by University Park Mall (where I work, yea!) By the late 1990's Mishawaka's successful business development had caused the Scottsdale area to decay and eventually the mall and numerous nearby businesses closed. A renewal campaign occurred a few years ago which promised a similar shopping experience as Mishawaka's. I hadn't been in the area since about 1998 so I thought it was about time that I check it out. My first stop was the Sears Esse

This past Saturday was a gorgeous day. Bright and sunny. So here are some pics from around my home. This nest is next to the front door. I don't know what this bird was thinking. It can't be comfortable with all the traffic. The neighbors' horse. These are buds from one of our cherry trees. The great maple is starting to green.

Hey, it’s happy if you're getting a refund, right? Well, I made my final deposit into the state treasury for 2005. Yea! I did find it odd that there wasn’t a crowd at the post office. I remember getting into a huge line last year. Of course, it was late in the day that year too. But still, being able to drive up with no wait? Now that was unexpected.

Accent: Midwestern a.k.a. General American a.k.a. American Standard a.k.a. American Booze: Miller Light when I’m cheap. Labatt when I’m at State. Guinness when I can. San Miguel when available. Whatever is free. Chore I hate: Mowing the yard. I’m terribly allergic and it takes hours to do. Dogs/Cats: Dogs are cool and I’m allergic to cats. Essential Electronics: Oh damn. Let’s see… computer, cell phone, mp3 player, camera,… Favorite Perfume/Cologne: Dunno… I don’t wear any. Gold and Silver: Um, they are expensive….? Hometown: Depends on the context: Las Vegas, Niles, or Galien. Take your pick. Insomnia: It must suck for people who have it. Job Title: Assistant Manager Kids: None Living Arrangements: In a house with my parents but maybe that will change some time soon. Most Admired Trait: My pragmatism. Number of Sexual Partners: Currently or in the past? Who am I kidding? The answer for both is technically zero. Overnight Hospital Stays: Three occasions that I am

Until yesterday, I hadn’t had a haircut in over three months. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but that’s like an eternity for my head. Back in my ROTC days, I was getting trimmed every two weeks on the dot. Every other Wednesday because lead lab was on Thursday. Since quitting, I pretty much stayed with the regulation cut. Simple and fast. I thought that I would grow out my hair for a bit to see how it would look. It didn’t hurt that I didn’t have to spend money to get it cut either. I decided that long hair isn’t for me. Honestly, it feels gross to have so much hair. It’s like having your finger nails too long. I’m sure someone would say that I should have it styled. Nah. Doing more than washing and combing it is a little too much for me.

Way back in the days, there was a song called Tubthumping by the group Chumbawamba. This was back before I found out about Napster. Actually, I think it was before I even had the internet. So the only way I could listen to this awesome song was to record it on cassette. Remember those? I’d listen to it over and over again, belting out the wrong lyrics. What? I had no idea was a lager or cider drink was. And I thought that “pissing the night away” was literally needing to take a piss after drinking so much. Ah, ignorance! It was a popular song and obviously I wasn’t the only one who was movin’ to it. One of my classmates liked the song very much. She died. They played her favorite songs at her viewing. Tubthumping and I Don’t Want To Miss a Thing by Aerosmith. I couldn’t listen to either song. It brought up some very sad emotions that I’d sooner just forget. I avoided those two songs even though I still had a copies of them. The other day my computer was playing randomly

I forgot that I did take two pictures at Erin’s new house. Here’s the color of the bathroom. *ahem* It was my suggestion. The new owner.

I’ve been neglectful on my studying for the LSAT. Crap. I’ve got to step it up if I want to do well in June! Argh! My mantra: One hour minimum per day for study.

Hey everyone, I am employed once again! So now you won’t have to support this bum for much longer. My first paycheck is in two weeks but it’s going to be sucked up immediately by my next car payment, Erin’s birthday gift, as well as some payments towards some other debts I’ve accumulated. I can’t wait to get out of this hold that I’ve dug myself into. Right now, my training is much like a regular sales associate. Most of my time there, I’ll be indistinguishable from one but I’ve got a few more added responsibilities some of which I’ve tried out already. I’m not sure if I can field company to company communications but I’m sure Tracee will make me do it as soon as it comes up. I’ve been told that I should be ready to get kicked out of the nest sometime by the end of the month. That’s when I’ll get another visit by the regional manager and officially become an assistant manager. I’m really looking forward to traveling. I just hope that I’ll be able to adapt to the other stores.

I'm so glad that I don't do brackets. So... who should I hope for? Florida or UCLA? I don't care for either team. Eh, I'll go with Florida for the retarded reason: I lived there. *shrugs* Actually, the only reason I'm watching is because there is nothing else on TV.

I start my new job today. Well, actually, it's the probationary period. Hopefully, it won't last more than a week and then I can be hired in fully. Some more details to follow.

Don't forget to "spring forward" tonight. EDT begins tomorrow. Warm welcomes too our neighbors to the south who will be joining us. All you Hoosiers might want to double check which side of the time zone you will be in. So Starke and Pulaski residents, keep cool. You will be joining with CDT so your clocks won't change. Article here .